[Ok Impala!]

After finishing up Zelda II - Amida's Curse and Super Mario Kart - Epic Racers, I started work on my third extensive ROM hack. Today I can reveal my new project:

Ember of Mana



Ember of Mana will be a brand new Mana adventure for Gameboy. This Rom hack is based on Final Fantasy Adventure (also known as Mystic Quest or Seiken Densetsu). This will be an extensive ROM hack with a new world, new graphics, new music, new dungeons, new gameplay, new story, custom events and a full colorization.

This hack is still in its very early stages, so planned release is somewhere in 2023. I will use this topic to share progress and new screenshots. Would be great to discuss ideas with you all!

More information can also be found on my website: http://www.okimpala.net

Changes:
- New overworld design
- New dungeon design
- New town design
- New story
- New graphics
- New soundtrack
- New partners
- Custom events
- New gameplay elements to make dungeons more interesting
- Focus on the fun of exploration
- Colorization

Progress:
- Story: 50%
- Graphics: 5%
- Gameplay changes: 20%
- Overworld: 80%
- Dungeons: 10%
- Towns: 10%
- Custom Events: 5%
- Detail management: 0%
- Dialogue: 5%
- Palettes: 0%
- Music: 0%
- Colorization: 1%

Special Thanks:
- Arathron123 (Mystic Editor)
- Xenophile (ASM, Colorization, FFA Gender swap improvements)
- MojoDodo (ASM, Colorization)
- KKzero (ASM, Colorization)
- PowerPanda (Font Title Screen)
- WaxPoetic (Graphics Ripping)

Screenshots:

A young girl in search of her family:


A custom event:


Another custom event:


New gameplay element, you can find things in Vases:


New gameplay element, you can trigger things in other parts of the dungeon:


Concept for a new title screen:


A brand new overworld:


Gameplay improvement, houses will all be unique, some even have multiple rooms:


Arathron123 and Xenophile did an amazing job mapping out the ROM. This makes it possible to change a lot of things. Colorization is currently being worked on by Xenophile, MojoDodo and KKzero. If people are interested in joining them, feel free to let me know!

We are able to extract all music data from the game to a MML format. With some patience it's possible to change the music. I'm very interested to get in contact with people that worked on music hacks before. So if you are that person, let me know!

Feel free to share your thoughts and suggestions on how to improve upon Final Fantasy Adventure! 

[lexluthermiester]

This looks excellent! Seems well enough along as well.

[Ok Impala!]

This looks excellent! Seems well enough along as well.

I finished up the first area, using it mainly as a test to see what's possible. FFA is way more flexible than Zelda II, so there are many possibilities to make Ember of Mana a truly unique Mana game! 

[lexluthermiester]

Is the story going to be a unique experience or a side story to the original?

[Ok Impala!]

Is the story going to be a unique experience or a side story to the original?

Completely unique with new characters and a new world. It will be a story about Mana though.

[Rabite890]

Using one of my two favorite games to make a new game in a series that Squeenix has butchered for years? Yes please. I look forward to seeing more on this.

[Titney]

This looks very promising, looking forward to see it progress!

[lexluthermiester]

Completely unique with new characters and a new world. It will be a story about Mana though.

Cool!

[erinsjennings]

Amazing, ambitious project. I can't wait to see it coalesce. I've seen a lot of people looking for a colorized Seiken Densetsu hack. Any chance y'all might fork the colorization off for the original?

[Bonk]

This looks great so far.
I feel like the E in Ember should be bigger like the M in Mana to make the title consistent looking though.

[Ok Impala!]

Amazing, ambitious project. I can't wait to see it coalesce. I've seen a lot of people looking for a colorized Seiken Densetsu hack. Any chance y'all might fork the colorization off for the original?

Sure! The original game will be playable in color too. There is a lot to look forward to for Mana fans! 

This looks great so far.
I feel like the E in Ember should be bigger like the M in Mana to make the title consistent looking though.

That's a great suggestion. I'll keep that in mind when I update the title screen to its definitive form.

[ProstatePunch]

This looks like a cool project.  Excited to play the finalized release whenever it's ready!

[MetalSmasher86]

I never played Final Fantasy Adventure before, but I have played both of its SNES sequels, and you've proven your ability with Zelda 2: Amida's Curse, so I'll be following this project too.

[aqualung]

Final Fantasy Adventure was the first action/rpg I played and also the game that made me discover Square (I loved the original game so much that I started another playthrough right after finishing it), so I'll look forward to this hack with anticipation! Thanks for your work!

[Ok Impala!]

Final Fantasy Adventure was the first action/rpg I played and also the game that made me discover Square (I loved the original game so much that I started another playthrough right after finishing it), so I'll look forward to this hack with anticipation! Thanks for your work!

Thank you! FFA was also my first Square game as a kid. I have very strong nostalgic feelings for it. And it is still a fun game to play!

As for a small update on the progress. I'm currently working on the new overworld. Halfway finished with that. New screenshots will be posted when I'm done. 

[Farlight]

Wow!  This looks absolutely excellent.  FFA remains one of my all-time favorites and holds a special place as it was one of the few action RPGs i had access to on the GB. 

Very much looking forward to this.

I have been enjoying Amida's Curse

[Ok Impala!]

Wow!  This looks absolutely excellent.  FFA remains one of my all-time favorites and holds a special place as it was one of the few action RPGs i had access to on the GB. 

Very much looking forward to this.

I have been enjoying Amida's Curse

Thanks! It's good to hear there are more fans of FFA around here! 

[lexluthermiester]

Thanks! It's good to hear there are more fans of FFA around here! 

Oh yes, there are plenty of us.

[Greyfield]

Oh yes, there are plenty of us.

Just to add in my encouragement, and to echo others.  This is one of my favorite original gameboy games, and I'm excited to see you're working on a new adventure.  I'm also looking forward to your colorization of the original, which will add a lot to modern players.

Great job with Amida's Curse as well! 

[the_grobe]

This project looks fantastic.  And I'm so glad it's coming from you.  Amida's Curse was fantastic, and I'm beyond excited to see what you do next